Mall guard at Trevino trial: Missing Minn. woman's car was bloody

A Mall of America security guard testified Monday that he found blood in the abandoned car of a missing St. Paul woman whose husband is accused of killing her.

Associated Press

A Mall of America security guard testified Monday that he found blood in the abandoned car of a missing St. Paul woman whose husband is accused of killing her.

Robert Ritchie testified in Ramsey County in the murder trial of Jeffery Trevino, 39. Trevino is accused of killing his wife, 30-year-old Kira Steger, who went missing in February. Her body was found in the Mississippi River in May.

Ritchie testified he was on routine patrol when he spotted a white Chevrolet Cobalt backed into a corner spot of the Bloomington mall's parking ramp on Feb. 25. The car had a parking ticket on it dated 3:56 a.m. Feb. 23, Ritchie said.

On a small embankment behind the car, Ritchie said he saw a floor mat in the snow with apparent bloodstains on it, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported. A tow truck driver arrived and they popped the car's trunk, Ritchie said.

"The first thing I saw was more blood inside the trunk," Ritchie said. "I immediately just kind of backed away from it, knowing what it was."

Other testimony in the trial Monday morning consisted of a neighbor's surveillance video. Stills from the recording show lights going on and off in the couple's rental home throughout the early morning of Feb. 22.

The photos also show an Airport Taxi van, the same kind that picked up a man from the Mall of America about 9:30 a.m. on Feb. 22. A man in a dark hoodie can then be seen walking toward the house and into the driveway.

The taxi driver testified Monday he could not identify Trevino as the man who rode in his cab that morning, but said the person was rather thin and wore a dark hoodie.

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